Incendiary attachment for aeroplanes.



APPLICATIONFILED OCT. l4. I916.

Patented Aug. 14, 1917.

LEWIS NIXON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

INCENDIARY ATTACHMENT FOR AEROPLANES.

Application filed October 14, 1916. Serial No. 125,686..

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEWIS NIXON, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Incendiary Attachments for Aeroplanes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. My present invention relates to improvements in incendiary attachments for aeroplanes.

During the present war, the use of incendiary bombs from aeroplanes has been common, and such bombs have been more or less effective against buildings and structures of various kinds, but they have proven unsatisfactoryin certain instances owing to the fact that the weight of the bomb will cause it to passthrough the upper more inflammable portions of a building tothe lower portion Where fire is less likely to spread rapidly, and can be more readily reached and put out. p

More especially have these bombs proved unsatisfactory in setting fire -to fields ofgrain ready for harvest, or setting fire to any brush in woods, or to dry grass generally, for the inertia of the bomb will cause it to bury'itself in the earth before it explodes, causing frequently very little, if any, dama e.

Moreover, these bombs are ordinarily provided with metal shells, which are intended to endanger life as well as injure property, and the weight of these metal shells renders it difiicult to carry a large number of bombs, especially on the ordinary heavier than air aircraft.

I My invention is intended to provide a comparatively light incendiary arrangement by which the incendiary projectile may be readily launched from the aircraft, and at the same time ignited, and falling through the air, will fall and rest on top of the roof of a building, or fall and remain on top of the ground, thus setting fire to any inflammable material it comes in contact with.

My invention will be understood by refer-' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 14, 19in.

plane just after it has launched one ofthe incendiary projectiles; V

Fig. 2 shows a section through'a casing with connected parts, whereby the projectile may be conveniently stored on the'aer'oplane and may be launchedan'd ignited when desired; and

Fig. 3 is a plan view'of the top of the case, shown in Fig. 2, parts being shownfin section.

1 represents an aeroplane of any suitable type having the usual floor 2, which floor is perforated to permitthe projectingtherejthrough of one or more cylindrical cases 3, each case being closed by :a' hinged door 4,"

whose free end is held up and supporte d by a toe 5 011 a rod 6, which rod-is normally held up in any suitable way, a-s'by 'nieans'of a spring 7 and may be pressing on a pedal 8.

It will be seen thatpressing down on this pedal will push the toe 5 downward allowing the door 4 to swing open.

Stored in the casing '3 is the projectile 9, which is in the form of a long Woven sheath or tube, filled With incendiary materiah and to the upper end ofthis sh'eath'is connected :1. slow-burning fuse 10. This slow-burning fuse is preferably graduated as, shown in Fig. 2. The rate of burning being known,

and the height of the aircraft {above the ground being known, if this fuse be ignited at the proper point, it will set, fireto the inflammable column at any desired time before the said column reaches the ground, and

thus will insure that the incendiary materialis burning fiercely when it reaches the object to be set on fire.

Any suitable method for igniting this fuse at the desired point may be adopted. have shown means for igniting the. same electrically in Fig. 2, in which 12 representsa contact carried by the pedal'S, which makes electrical connection with the. contact 13, and completes a circuit from the battery 14 through the coarse induction coil 15. This generates a current in the fine induction coil 16, and makes a spark between the points 17 and 18, igniting the fusev at the desired po nt.

The contact 13 and points 17 and 18 may be, conveniently located on, but insulated from the cover 20, which is hinged at 21 to the case 3, and the hole 22 in said cover bepressed: down by ing made just large enough to conveniently feed the fuse through the same, and to draw the same to the desired position when ready for firing.

When the parts are in the position. shown in Fig. 2, it will be seen that by pressing down on the pedal 8, the electric circuit will be completed, and the electric spark will ignite the fuse 10. At the same time the door 4 will be released, and the woven sheath containing the incendiary composition will drop downward as indicated in Fig. 1, the fuse 10' being fired at the proper point corres onding to the height of the aircraft above t e ground, the incendiary material will be ignited before the projectile reaches the ground, and it will burn fiercely for some-= time after it comes to rest on the roof of a building or other structure, or on the ground, as the case may be.

It will be obvious that various otherv means for storing and launching the projectile, and for firing the same, may be adopted, if desired, and I do not wish to limit my invention to any specific means, or to any particular construction, combination, or arrangement of parts, except as may be required by the claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secu e by Letters Pat ent of the United States is:

1. An incendiary attachment for air craft com rising a long flexible tube made of combustible material and filled with inflammable composition, and a time fuse connected to one end of said to ignite the inflammable composition in said tube, with means for i niting said time fuse, substantially as descri ed.

' An incendiary attachment for air craft com rising a lon flexible tube made of com ustible material and filled with inflammable composition, and a time fuse connected to one end of said tube and adapted to ignite the inflammable composition in said tube, with means for igniting said time fuse, and for dropping said tube fromthe air craft, substantially as described.

3. An incendiary attachment for air craft comprising a long flexible tube made of combustible material and filled with inflammable composition, and a time fuse connected to one end of said tube and adapted to ignite the inflammable composition in said tube, with means for simultaneously igniting said time fuse and dropping said I .sired, substantially as out of the case 3, and fall' tube and adapted tube from the air craft, substantially as oescribed.

4. An incendiary attachment for air craft comprising a long flexible tube made of combustible material and filled with inflammable composition, and a time fuse connected to one end of said tube and adapted to ignite the inflammable composition, with an electric circuit having a spark gap therein for igniting said time fuse, when dedescribed.

5. An in ndiary attachment for air craft comprising casing having a hinged bottom opening downward through the bottom of j the air craft, a long flexible tube made of] combustible material and filled with inflammable composition, mounted in said casing, a time fuse connected to one end of said .tube and adapted to ignite the inflammable com-V position in said tube, and means for releasing said hinged bottom, thus dropping said tube from the air craft, substantially asdescribed.

6. An incendiary attachment for air craft comprising a casing having a hinged bottom opening downward through the bottom of the air craft, a lon flexible tube madeof combustible materia mable composition, mounted in said casing,

a time fuse connected to one end of said tube and adapted to ignite the inflammable composition in said tube, means for igniting said time fuse, and means for releasing said hinged bottom, thus dropping said. tube from the air craft, substantially as described.

7 An incendiary attachment for air craft comprising a casin opening downwar through the bottom of the air craft, a long flexible tube made of combustible material and filled with inflammable composition, mounted in said casing,

a time fuse connected to one end of said tube and adapted to ignite the inflammable composition in said tube, with meansfor simultaneously igniting said time fuse, and dropping said tube from the air craft, comprising an electric circuit with a spark gap therein, and a plunger provided with a toe adapted to normally lock said hinged bottom but to release same when desired and also to close said electric circuit and create a spark thus igniting said time. stantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature.

LEWIS NIXON.

and filled with inflam- 85 having a hinged bottom 95 fuse, sub- 

